Reading the riot act

It is quite strange being abroad when your city and country is burning, as it was for me while I was away on holiday during the recent riots.

Half of me wanted to come home, just in case, while the other half wanted to hide and pretend I was not English. Time to dust off any Welsh, Irish or Scottish roots I might have. It is even worse when you have to listen to politicians coming up with facile answers to complex questions, angst-ridden liberal columnists pretending they understand gangs, and Kelvin MacKenzie and Richard Littlejohn calling for the return of national service, birching and borstal. In one instance a 70-year-old man was cautioned for taking part in the riots. Recently I read a piece of research that said life...